Best of the Area: Haunted Houses
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October 23, 2009 • Leah Weston
Filed under Uncategorized
Editors Leah Weston and Ramsey Statz recently visited three local Halloween haunted houses to rate them for readers of The Signal. The rating was completed independently and the scores received are based on the average score of their individual ratings.
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The Haunted Barn, located on Highway 51 about 5 minutes outside of Stoughton, is a family-owned and operated house.
With three stages, a barn, a cemetery, and a haunted woods, the Haunted Barn promises to provide spookiness around every corner.
SCARY GOOD: The actors at the Haunted Barn are the best seen of the three haunted houses. Not only are they good while going through, but they keep their character for people waiting in line.
SCARY BAD: Besides a few chainsaws here and there, the Haunted Barn makes little use of special effects and props compared to other haunted houses.
RATINGS
SCARINESS: 4/5
ORIGINALITY: 4/5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 3/5
ACTORS: 5/5
VALUE: 4/5
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Dr. S.Cary’s Haunted House, located at Jellystone Park outside of Fort Atkinson, is a good haunted house for the money but when compared to other haunted houses, fails to measure up.
Once you have waited in the long line, you will find a mediocre haunted house that fails to impress in just about every aspect.
SCARY GOOD: Dr. S.Cary’s is a solid haunted house in that it accomplished the goal of scaring the audience. However, there is little original about this haunted house. The only thing to wow the audience is fake picture which suddenly dissappear to have a real person pop out and scare you.
SCARY BAD: Dr. S.Cary’s is too short and too much of a cookie cutter to be a standout in the category of haunted houses. The only good thing that can be said is that it only cost six dollars a person, making it the cheapest haunted house out of all the ones reviewed.
RATINGS
SCARINESS: 3/5
ORIGINALITY: 2/5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 3/5
ACTORS:4/5
VALUE: 3/5
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The Fright Factory, located in an abandoned factory in Janesville, is the clear winner out of the haunted houses reviewed.
Even if you set aside the mystique of a haunted house in an abandoned factory, The Fright Factory is still the spookiest and creepiest haunted house of these three.
SCARY GOOD: The overall variety of themes within the Fright Factory is what sets it apart. From a dark maze that the audience is forced to go through alone to a bloody toilet, the Fright Factory will astound you.
SCARY BAD: If anything bad can be said for the Fright Factory, it is that they did not used special effects as well as they could have. It felt as though more could have been done.
RATINGS
SCARINESS: 5/5
ORIGINALITY:5/5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 4/5
ACTORS:4/5
VALUE: 5/5
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I don’t quite get what you guys mean by special effects. I know for a fact The Haunted Barn has a rising and lowering Jason “prop”, a real machete, a vortex tunnel, many realistic prosthetics and other things. Short of any actual “magic” going on I don’t know what more you want.
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